Interactive Advertising Bureau: Guidelines and Formats

For this blog I will be reviewing interactive advertising on the following websites: Bloomberg Business, Business Insider, and Time.

All three websites listed above conform with IAB guidelines. The companies responsible for each of the websites above are all IAB members and helped elaborate the 2015 IAB advertising creative guidelines (IAB).

Web site Advertising

Of the websites listed above, all were very careful as to the number of ads placed. I was very please with the user experience, as the websites prioritized content over advertising. Advertising for all three websites was limited to 2-4 ads throughout the main page. The ads in Bloomberg and Business Insider were not at all intrusive, which as a user is greatly appreciated. Time on the other hand did have an annoying filmstrip add which followed the user throughout every moment of his visit.

Mobile Site Advertising 

The companies careful placement of ads continued in their mobile sites. Mobile sites were actually much easier to navigate, as the content is place one on top of the other. This format places all content at the exact dimensions of the mobile devices screen. This approach allow the user to focus solely on the content and the users only worry becomes scrolling up and down, not scanning the screen for content.

Rising Stars

• Business Insider: The company used a billboard advertising IBM. The billboard being the first image the user sees, demands immediate attention. 

• Time: The company used a filmstrip that followed the user throughout the landing page.

Ad Effectiveness

I truly enjoyed the companies approach to advertising. Bloomberg and Business Insider really prioritized content over advertising. I believe this strategy put more focus on the actual ad. By not bombarding the user with advertising, the user is more likely to pay attention to a certain ad that looks to be out of place. Bloomberg and Business Insider accomplished this perfectly, with the placement of few high quality ads. The companies advertised on both websites were are very well know companies that attract attention.



Sources

IAB Display Advertising Guidelines | IAB - Empowering the Marketing and Media Industries to Thrive in the Digital Economy (IAB Empowering the Marketing and Media Industries to Thrive in the Digital Economy)

Favor Delivery: Organic and Paid Search Rankings

Digital Marketing Success 101 is currently following Whole Foods Market, Uber, and Favor Delivery. After analyzing each of the companies natural search engine rankings, it became very clear that all three companies are very thoroughly acquainted with SEO. 

* The companies were searched for on Google, Yahoo, and Bing. The following keywords were used for each company:

• Whole Foods
• Uber
• Favor

All three companies have close to perfect search engine rankings on Google. At the moment Google account for close to 70% of the global search engine market, which explains the companies near perfect presence on this platform (Search Engine Market Share). Whole Foods Market and Uber hold great search engine rankings on both Yahoo and Bing. 

Favor

Favor Delivery's presence on Yahoo and Bing could use some improvement. Granted the two and a half year old start up does not have the marketing budget the other two companies have (Whole Foods Market and Uber). Favor Delivery's presence on Google is near perfect, with the above the fold results being to the company's landing page and the other to the company's twitter. Below the fold Google users will find links to download Favor's application, Facebook profile, with the last two being dictionary definitions of the actual word. 

One thing I found peculiar was the lack of paid search. This is a smart move from the company since they already top Google's rankings. There is no need for Favor to begin a paid search campaign at the moment. The following screenshots are Favor's search results on Google:

Need for improvements

Favor's presence on both Yahoo and Bing are lackluster to say the least. Favor does not appear in any of the above the fold search results on Yahoo or Bing. It obvious that Favor Delivery has completely ignored a paid search campaign and relied on organic search at the moment. The following are screenshots from both Yahoo's and Bing's search results:

Yahoo

Bing

Analysis

Paid Search

I cannot comment on the efficiency of Favor's SEO campaigns, as I am not aware of the company's current marketing budget or SEO strategy. Yahoo's and Bing's results clearly show Favor has no interest in optimizing its paid search on those platforms. Favor clearly identifies Google users as its target market and feels no need to worry about other search engines. 

Organic Search

Favor's organic search engine results are at the top of each search engine rankings. All three search engines have Favor's landing page as the first organic search result followed by either yelp reviews or the companies social media. Favor also clearly favors, no pun intended, Google over Yahoo and Bing. Yahoo's and Bing's organic search results for Favor are not dominant as they are on Google. 

Sources

Search engine market share. (n.d.). Retrieved November 3, 2015, from https://www.netmarketshare.com/search-engine-market-share.aspx?qprid=4&qpcustomd=0